1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling garment, particularly a wearable jacket containing ice for cooling the wearer.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
The carotid artery supplies blood to the head and neck. The left common carotid artery branches directly off the aortic arch. The right common carotid artery branches off the brachiocephalic artery. Cooling the blood flowing through the carotid could be vital to providing comfort to individuals experiencing excessive over heating endured as the result of environmental or physiological conditions.
Many environmental and physiologic conditions cause elevated body temperatures. Such conditions can cause discomfort and dehydration, nausea, dizziness, and fainting spells, among other unhealthy physical signs and potentially dangerous symptoms. A variety of industries and climates inflict uncomfortably and, at times, intolerably high temperatures upon persons. For example, heat sources in nuclear plants and foundries produce heat capable of driving temperatures in such plants up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or more. Conditions resulting from heat stress in such environments can increase risk of significant mistakes in judgment, absenteeism, and down time. Weather conditions experienced while engaged in outdoor activities similarly can have a deleterious biophysical effect.
In addition, many physiological disorders and conditions are accompanied by elevations of body temperature, some of which include multiple sclerosis, trauma patients suffering injury to the spinal cord or brain, and patients with burns, various local, regional or systemic viral or bacterial infections, and other physiological disorders and condition which can benefit from therapeutic cooling. Further, workers in many industries are required to wear layers of protective clothing to protect against pollutants such as asbestos fibers and radiologic contamination in nuclear plants, which may cause elevation of temperatures and loss of body fluids.
Various garments for cooling the body are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,625 to Steele et al., for example, discloses a wearable vest having front and back torso-covering panels with pockets that receive gel cooling packs. The front and back panels undesirably add weight to the garment, and the vest does not extend upward toward or around the neck, so that cooling of the carotids and neck is not maximized. Further, the vest is limited to using self-contained, gel cooling packs, and hence is not readily rechargeable once the cooling packs have warmed to ambient temperature.
Accordingly, an easily wearable, reusable garment is needed that provides cooling to the area of the carotid arteries, and that can be readily recharged with coolant by the user.